Monday, April 12, 2010

We took her with toothache to a government clinic. When he approached her with a huge needle she screamed and refused to let him anyway near her.

The dentist gave us the name of a hospital.

"They'll take care of here there," he assured us, writing 'uncooperative child' on the appointment slip.

My wife took my daughter to the hospital. They ordered her and my son out, wrapped her in a blanket, forced her mouth open, gave her an injection and extracted the tooth.

Needless to say, this left her traumatised and terrified of dentists, I thought she was going to have a lifelong fear of them.

Toothache Two

When my daughter had toothache again, I chose a dentist from the list of dentists on our dentists' page - obviously I chose one with numerous positive ratings.

I rang the dentists everal times, discussing different options. The receptionist recommended one dentist who she said was excellent with children, and we waited a few days to see this dentist, getting some painkillers and anti-biotics in the meantime.

In two visits the dentist won my daughter's trust. It took a lot of time. She had my daughter riding up on down on the dentist's chairs, and playing dentists - she even had her examining my wife's teeth.

The first trip my daughter still wouldn't let the dentist put a mirror in her mouth, or lie down on the couch to be examined, but she did consent to the dentist looking at her teeth by the window. The second trip she had her fillings done.

"I thought she was going to put a needle in my mouth," my daughter explained to me later. "But it wasn't a needle, it was a magic fairy toothpick.

"You need that to make the sad teeth happy again, you see."

If you need a great dentist for a frightened child, I throughly recommend them: Dr Sarah's Specialist Dental Centre off Salwa Road, full details on our Dentist's Page.

By the way, I have not been asked to write this review or received any money for it. I am just writing it because I was extremely impressed. (I wouldn't say no to a discount off our next trip, though - it's not the cheapest place :))